Refuge-Seekers’ Class Action Proceeds

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – Refuge-seekers’ class action accusing the United States of unreasonably holding them in detention for months may proceed, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Rogers on Friday denied the government’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by lead plaintiff Marco Antonio Alfaro Garcia, and granted class certification in the case. Garcia, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Immigrant Justice Center, said in his April lawsuit that the government delays its process of finding out whether immigrants subject to deportation have a “reasonable fear” of returning to their home countries. The average wait time for an immigrant taken into custody to receive a reasonable fear determination is 111 days, the complaint states. Government regulations say that determination should be made within 10 days.